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Blessings and Lessons
What if every single thing you experienced today was either a blessing or a lesson? Counteracting the Complaints We’ve talked a lot about complaints and how easy it is to complain and spot things that are less than ideal. This week has been such a reminder about my own tendencies to complain. I have been…
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See Things Differently Feel Things Differently
Reframing aka Reappraisal and Emotion The Practice of Changing Our Minds Gratitude is a powerful tool for reframing or reappraisal which is simply intentionally seeing something from a different perspective. The benefits of reappraisal can not be understated. It helps us to: have empathy communicate more effectively with people who are different than us open…
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Is Negativity Realistic?
Bell Hooks calls it absolutely disenabling Negativity Stops Me in My Tracks I am currently reading All About Love by Bell Hooks where I came across a wonderful passage exploring negativity, positivity and taking responsibility. Because we have learned to believe negativity is more realistic, it appears more real than any positive voice. Once we begin…
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A Recipe for Getting Out of Your Own Way
Do you know how all this gratitude started for me? Living Your Best Life Before gratitude became the focus of my work and even before I started practicing gratitude, I used to use it as a tool to help people on their path to creating the life they wanted. I was doing health and wellness coaching…
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Where I Lay My Head
The essentials that surround us. Sick and Cold and Alone and Wondering That's how I woke up this morning. I hadn't turned on my space heater and my bedroom isn't heated otherwise. My blankets were not cutting it once that low of 21 degrees hit. And to make matters worse I was sick to my stomach.…
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Without Expectation of Thanks
How dare they not thank me? When My Expectations Get in the Way Earlier this week my classmates were complaining about their low grades on the midterm exam, frustrated that the professor was not open to offering extra credit or any other accommodations. I asked about one particular question on the exam that I got…
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To Have Not or to Have
Celebrating what we have through gratitude. Today It can be so easy to look forward with worry or anticipation. To look back with regret or nostalgia. But today calls for your attention. Today is here. Today is real. And even when we are present in what is real today it can be so easy to…
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The Unlikely Gratitude Expert
I must confess. I am grumpy. And grateful. Yes, We Can We can be grateful. Not just us. Everyone can. Even the most grumpy person we know. The most cynical. The most punk rock. The most intellectual. The most in pain. Depressed. Worried. Hopeless. Addicted. Everyone is grateful for something at one time or another.…
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Saying Yes to This Moment
What is possible here? I’d Heard It Before but Still Needed to Hear It I’m reading this great book that I highly recommend for anyone who is interested in systems and transformation especially on a large scale. It is called Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown. It is one of those books that is exciting…
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Ever Feel Like You Aren’t Doing Enough?
Small Matters That Post-Inspiration Paralysis A few of you replied to the email last week to tell me how much you loved what I wrote. You were brought to tears. You were inspired. You want to do it. Really. Sing your big and beautiful swan sang. Make your mark. Feel proud of yourself. Go big.…
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Not Saying Anything Negative About Anybody for Three Days
I caught myself about to talk shit about someone. If You Can't Say Anything Nice I started typing out a text that was being empathetic to the person I was texting but it was really judgmental and negative about our mutual friend. Luckily I paused before hitting send and reread it. I realized that this…
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Open to a New Way of Seeing
We are resilient. We are grateful. Take a Breath. Sink into This. What a year. It hasn't been the greatest. But here we all are. Resilient and often grateful. Through the darkness we trekked. Through the pain we grew. Through the loneliness we found each other. We are here. With a new way of seeing.…
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Don’t Be Blinded by Gratitude
Not everything is beautiful. In what ways does seeing the darkness of the world bring you hope? Seeing the Darkness and Finding Hope As I mourn yet another mass shooting I am reflecting on being grateful but not ONLY being grateful. I would hate for a gratitude practice to be blinders to seeing the tragedies…
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Breathing is Enough
Me too. Let’s just take a breath together. Letting Ourselves Off the Hook of Gratitude I’ve been writing a series of these about difficult times and grief. After last week I declared that to be the last of the series and I would move to more positive and feel good topics. But then “me too”…
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Breathing is Enough
Me too. Let’s just take a breath together. Letting Ourselves Off the Hook of Gratitude I’ve been writing a series of these about difficult times and grief. After last week I declared that to be the last of the series and I would move to more positive and feel good topics. But then “me too”…
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A Poem of Blessings for Times of Grief
These words. Like a soothing bubble bath for your soul. Beannacht, the Gaelic Word for Blessings by John O'Donohue On the day when The weight deadens On your shoulders And you stumble, May the clay dance To balance you. And when your eyes Freeze behind The gray window And the ghost of loss Gets in…
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In Outrage and in Gratitude
Don’t cover your eyes to it. Don’t ignore it. Take care of yourself too. Being Grateful When The World is So Fucked Up Gratitude ≠ Happiness Darkness is not a lack of gratitude. Authentic gratitude comes from looking at the world with eyes wide open. It is not protected behind blinders – ignoring the horrors…
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Great Works Started and Sustained
You have so much to offer the world. Tapping Into Your Softness and Strength The rain came thunderous and hard then soft and gentle. Afterward I went outside to enjoy the cool summer air. The light all around was soft and airy. It was the middle of the day but everything seemed so still and…
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What Do You Stand For?
We stood for peace. We stood for equity. Then we had dinner together. Start In This Moment If you want to create a better future. Start in this moment. Take a stand. It was easy for me to say that I am against white supremacy but I struggled to put into words what I was taking…
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Give Your Body This Gift
I almost didn’t share this picture because I was embarrassed about my body. Honor Your Body With Gratitude There our bodies are each and every moment of each and every day. They are carrying us through our lives. We push them when we are busy. We rest them when we can. And we complain when…